Electrophotographic processes for forming images upon media are well known in the art. Typically, these processes include an initial step of charging a photoreceptor which may be provided in the form of a drum or continuous belt having photoconductive material. Thereafter, an electrostatic latent image may be produced by exposing the charged area of the photoreceptor to a light image using a light-emitting diode array, or scanning the charged area with a laser beam in exemplary configurations.
Particles of toner may be applied to the photoreceptor surface upon which the electrostatic latent image is disposed such that the toner particles are transferred to the electrostatic latent image. Thereafter, a transfer step occurs wherein the toner particles are transferred from the photoreceptor to the media while maintaining the shape of the image formed upon the photoreceptor. A fusing step is utilized to fix the toner particles in the shape of the image to the media. A subsequent step can include cleaning or restoring the photoreceptor for a next printing cycle.
Operational parameters greatly affect the final print quality of the toner image supplied to the media. For example, an effective temperature in the fuser nip is vital to ensure optimized image quality and achievable print. Two variables in printing media that affect the effective temperature in the fuser nip are basis weight and water content. These two variables manifest themselves as differences in dielectric thickness, heat capacity and thermal conductivity for a given media in an environment.
In some conventional arrangements, a user can manually adjust fuser temperatures using a control panel or software. Typically, such adjustments are made after problems in fusing quality are noticed. This is disadvantageous inasmuch as monitoring of printing by personnel is required.
The above conventional image forming system configurations have associated drawbacks of requiring knowledge of the user to implement transfer and fusing adjustments as well as knowledge of the proper adjustment to improve transfer and fusing quality. Therefore, a need exists to provide image forming devices and methods which provide improved print quality for different types of media by limiting fuser generated defects.